Weave a Thousand Flavors

ALFAJORES De Dulce De Leche Cookies from Argentina

Meet Argentina's favorite street food - Alfajores.

Think Buttery Shortbreads Sandwiched with Caramel & Rolled in Coconut Flakes

Though there are many variations of this cookie all throughtout South America, the most common fillings are chocolate, dulce de leche & jam. As Dulce de Leche goes, you can of course go the super market route but  as it's all the better home made.

How to make dulce de leche at home? Follow the cooked can method in one of my previous posts. You can make one can at a time but why bother when they'll keep for a long time in the pantry, unopened or refrigerated.

I first got hooked to these darlings as we continued to frequent our favorite Argentinian  gelato place Dolcezza in Georgetown Washington D.C for their superlative gelatos, coffees and of course Alfajores. Just so you know, Argentinian gelato varies from it's Italian cousin in that's its creamier and made without eggs.

These cookies are all the rage during the holidays of course but since when do you need an excuse to enjoy these treats? These are even better when dunked in dulce de leche as you enjoy them with your cuppa.

That's what we've been doing all Sunday afternoon!

Autumnal Pumpkin & Cranberry Drop Scones with Pumpkin, Spice & Maple Butter

It's the weirdest thing. As soon as autumn falls on my lap and temperatures begin to drop, I find the pressure begin to mount to do something, anything with pumpkin. I think it's an almost unhealthy obsession and best dealt with and got out of the way -  promptly.

This feeling also coincides with the time thoughts of the Thanksgiving feast menu begin churning in my head. It's a cacophony in there, I promise and can't be helped. Happens every time. And yes, I know it's only October. Like I said, can't be helped.

But I have another motive for fixing these scones - I wanted to experiment  around with a topping for these that would be delicious on other desserts as well. And by jove, we've got it!

The Pumpkin, spice and maple butter on this thing is to die for. Not to mention the melt-in-the mouth scones do a darn good job holding their own.

Don't let my cooky motives and inspiration for these lovely seasonal scones stop you for feasting on these yourself.

Go on then!

4th Of July ~ Red, White & Beautiful : Berryful Parcels in Buttery Coconut Pastry with Ricotta, Lemon & Coconut Cream

  

As a cook I am grateful that either by the hand of fate, the intent of the founding fathers or simply a roll of dice on histories game board that Independence Day in the US falls in July.

As is norm for this celebration, all desserts that grace the 4th of July BBQ table in some form or the other replicate the red, white and blue colors of the US flag in edible representation. Can you imagine, celebrating Independence Day in the dead of winter? What possible seasonal fruits (and vegetables) would we use? I for one draw a blank at korean purple yams and orange sweet potatoes! Hardly, the colors of the hour.

Case and point, as a cook I for one am glad the  holiday falls smack, dab in the middle of summer where there is a plethora of summer produce namely berries. What a no-brainer that is.

And yet, instead of the creamy concoctions I love the thought and bite of berries nestled in the butterest, flakiest of crusts, melting-in-the-mouth with each savoring bite, only to be outdone by the flavor of sweet summer berries, simply un-messed with and topped with a flavor-blasting lemony, coconutty ricotta topping.

 
Take into account, that even if the thought of dealing with pie crust makes you want to back into a corner, these very forgiving, frayed, dough tatters will bring out the 'Thor' in each one of your shrinking hearts. And after a single bite, you won't just have to take my word that these little morsels create red, white and beautiful fireworks entirely on their own! 

 

Go Green! Go Nuts! Pistachio Tea Biscuits

 
This week being St. Patrick's day is a celebration of things green and considering that pistachios are the only green nuts that I know of and goes wonderfully with tea, it seems the perfect week for some delicious Pistachio Tea Biscuits.

There is honest food and then there is honest food.

This right here is what a pistachio biscuit would be if it was on truth serum! Yah - it doesn't get more honest than this.

This isn't one of those pseudo green color filled things that hopes to be a pistachio biscuit. It is one to its very core. To the very heart of its 4 ingredients. Right there should say it all - an airy flaky biscuit with 4 ingredients none of which are butter, oil or shortening.

Whaaatttt???? (Dear Steve - this one's for you :)

This darling biscuit performs nothing short of a miracle. By using the goodness of whipped egg whites it manages to fulfill our innermost biscuit fantasies and then leaves us panting.

How lucky I was to come across it in a 2005 issue of Australian Womens Weekly. A time tested recipe that makes and will continue to make an appearance on our kitchen table at tea time (or coffee time) for a long long time.

A keeper - if you like honest pistachios, that is!

 

My Youngest Reader {not my sons} & Choconut Bars {with Pizazz}

Move over Mr. Cookie, there's a new Sheriff in town!

This is no exaggeration. I am hanging up my chocolate chip cookie recipes for good. 

I have always found most cookies a bit disappointing - sometimes marketed as chewy, often tasting like unbaked dough and at other times as hard as cardboard, I had resigned to live a life devoid of cookie nirvana.

And then lo and behold! Just a like a cool breeze on a hot summer's day, my blogger galpal Andrea of Can You Stay for Dinner, whom I consider a cookie & all round dessert aficionado, claimed to have The definitive answer to my cookie blues. She was speaking in heartfelt overtures of Congo Bars, also known as Blondies. Interest piqued and all, I researched this culinary delight that had never come to my attention before now and after extensive research googling myriad recipes and finally seeking asylum in my Fannie Farmer Cookbook, I figured between Andrea, Marion and myself, there would be no room for failure.

Sure enough! The first bite into these and my 8 year old son proclaimed,"Mum, you must name these something with Pizazz" and I wholeheartedly agreed. After all, mine are not blond nor do have any roots to Congolese cuisine. You see, the reason they are not blond is because I hesitate using white chocolate since cacao beans are well, not white so white chocolate seems to me akin to the result of some freaky experiment gone wrong, so I'd rather just avoid and stick to very brown, semi sweet chocolate chips.

Now this post is especially dedicated to the youngest reader of my blog - 10 year old, Aman. He sent me a lovely email after fixing my shortbread recipe and not only did he have rave reviews, he had a delightful story to share where he made his Mum's life rather difficult by refusing to do the baking till she did a grocery run and procured all of the ingredients as per the recipe - no substitutions! Sorry Mum!

He has also asked for another recipe, easy enough for him to fix in time for going back to school. So here's to Aman & back to school Choconut bars!

Back to Pre-School & Jammy 'Hallongrottor' Short Breads

I can't believe that for many of us here in the US, school's out this week!

Thanks to Ms. Carol my son's preschool teacher who thought it would be a great idea if I did a cooking demonstration with the kids, today we're taking these yummy jam filled short breads to preschool  - not just carrying a platter full of these to the kids but actually making these with them! What fun!

Let me tell you, I'm quite a stickler when it comes to short breads. Growing up we'd buy them in those blue metal tins and I thought they were blissful. Little did I know that once I made these Swedish delights at home, I'd never turn back to the ready made ones. Now, I'm known to run after Dad (who still fancies them) in the aisle pulling the can out of his hands and placing it back on the shelf with "Dad, you can't possibly buy these, they are so much better home made!".

Yeah..I've been known to be pushy with my loved ones when it comes to food!

These are truly  Hallongrottor - Swedish pastries which mean "Raspberry caves" owing to raspberry jam being filled in the thumb-print depressions.

Just a handful of ingredients stands between us and these delicious, melt-in-your-mouth shortbread - all purpose flour, cold butter, baking powder, sugar, pure vanilla extract & raspberry jam. Also needed are cupcake liners.

I'm fixing a batch at home to carry with me for the parents and teachers.

Cook's Note - Use store bought jam (not chunky) because I found my homemade a little too watery

Also don't use the foil cupcake liners - they tend to over brown the short breads.

Preheat the oven to 400 deg F.

   

Ina food processor, mixer or bread machine (dough cycle), place all the dry ingredients - the flour, sugar & baking powder and give it a mix till these are well blended.

Cut the cold butter up into 1/2" chunks and set aside.

 

Once the flour mixture is blended add the butter few chunks at a time through the feeding tube.

 

Mix for about a minute or so till the mixture resembles soft bread crumbs. Add 1-1/2 tbs cold water and allow the flour mixture to mix for another minute or so till larger dough chunks have formed.

Cook's Note - You may need to turn off the machine and use a spatula to get the flour from the sides, break up chunks and give it a mix during the process.

 

Empty the dough into a large mixing bowl. Use clean hands and mold into a ball. Do not over work. Just enough to form into a smooth ball.

   

Line a baking tray with about 24 cup cake liners. Use 2 if needed. Parents will appreciate that half of mine are plain and others are 'transformer' liners..smiles...

On a clean working surface, divide the dough ball into 2 equal parts.

 

Roll each one out to make 2 dough log, snakes or ropes about 1-1/4" diameter

Use a butter knife and cut  each length into 12 portions.

 

Roll each dough portion between the palms of your hands. Flatten slightly.

 

Use your thumb and make an indentation in the middle of the flatten dough disk. Place into the cup cake liner. Continue till all the dough portions have been used up.

 

These are now ready for the raspberry jam filling.

 

Spoon 1/2 tsp raspberry jam into each of the short breads. Continue till all the short breads are jam filled. 

 

Place in a preheated oven for 15-17 minutes. The tops should be pale & the jam should be runny.

Do not over bake and brown.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Helping ourselves to a few with a hot cup of tea before we head out to school!

 

Over at the school...

Please note - the pics have been fuzzied up to protect the privacy of the children.

Here we go...

Fascinated with the mixer - installing the beast!

A small chat about the ingredients...Ms Carol is engrossed - Kids, not so much!

Once the beast is grinding...."that's too loud", the kids yell!

Everyone wants a peak!

Ooeey, Gooey dough!

Little hands working the dough!

Here comes the yummy jam!

Oven ready!

 
While these bake, everyone is excited with the arrival of Sandy the service dog!

And it was definitely my cue to leave. I don't know how teacher's do it - day in and day out. As fun as it was, it sure was exhausting!

Back in the solitude of home, I'm ready for another cup of tea & a few more of these yummies.

That was fun and hat's off to Ms. Carol and teachers like her who work wonders with our children everyday. A fountain of energy they must be!

As another school year draws to an end, I give special thanks to Ms. Carol, Ms. Suzie, Mrs Ranby & Ms. Liz for giving my sons such a fantastic school year that they are eager to get into their classroom every single day - even on weekends if they could!

As for myself, I once again sink into the nestling comfort of these butter soft shortbreads with their warm jam filled centers....sigh...

 

 

Recipe for

Yummy Jammy 'Hallongrottor' Short breads

Preparation time - 15 minutes

Baking time - 15-17 minutes

Shopping list

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 sticks butter

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp baking powder

Raspberry jam

Baking Method -

Preheat the oven to 400 deg F

In a food processor, mixer or bread machine (dough cycle), place all the dry ingredients - the flour, sugar & baking powder and give it a mix till these are well blended.

Cut the cold butter up into 1/2" chunks and set aside.

Once the flour mixture is blended add the butter few chunks at a time through the feeding tube.

Mix for about a minute or so till the mixture resembles soft bread crumbs. Add 1-1/2 tbs cold water and allow the flour mixture to mix for another minute or so till larger dough chunks have formed.

Cook's Note - You may need to turn off the machine and use a spatula to get the flour from the sides, break up chunks and give it a mix during the process.

Empty the dough into a large mixing bowl. Use clean hands and mold into a ball. Do not over work. Just enough to form into a smooth ball.

Line a baking tray with about 24 cup cake liners. Use 2 if needed. Parents will appreciate that half of mine are plain and others are 'transformer' liners..smiles...

On a clean working surface, divide the dough ball into 2 equal parts.

Roll each one out to make 2 dough log, snakes or ropes about 1-1/4" diameter

Use a butter knife and cut  each length into 12 portions.

Roll each dough portion between the palms of your hands. Flatten slightly.

Use your thumb and make an indentation in the middle of the flatten dough disk. Place into the cup cake liner. Continue till all the dough portions have been used up.

These are now ready for the raspberry jam filling.

Spoon 1/2 tsp raspberry jam into each of the short breads. Continue till all the short breads are jam filled. 

Place in a preheated oven for 15-17 minutes. The tops should be pale & the jam should be runny.

Do not over bake and brown.

Enjoy!